Watchdog Group Urges More Openness In Public Land Deals

Council on Environmental Quality Cites Weaknesses In Protection Of Conservation Land

HARTFORD — Connecticut needs a more transparent and thorough system to protect its parks, forests and other public lands from developers, according to the Council on Environmental Quality, a watchdog group within state government.

In recent years, the legislature and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection have been asked to convey hundreds of acres of public land to private entities. In many cases, those requests were rejected, but sometimes, they were approved by state lawmakers during the frantic, waning hours of the legislative session.

The most public and controversial of these cases involved 17 acres of state-owned land in Haddam. In 2011, the legislature agreed to let private developers acquire the riverfront property in exchange for 87 acres of woods they owned elsewhere in town. The deal fell apart when appraisals found the state's property overlooking the river was worth $1.3 million more than the developers' larger parcel in the woods.

"The Haddam land swap really raised the hackles of many of us who were concerned about Connecticut's open space and environment," said state Sen. Ed Meyer, co-chairman of the legislature's environment committee.

Preservation of open land is especially important in a small, densely populated state such as Connecticut, Meyer said. Unlike other states, Connecticut is not home to vast holdings of federal land. The bulk of conservation land in Connecticut is state or municipal open space, along with the holdings of private non-profit land banks.

Yet some of those parcels are not permanently protected from development, despite a public perception that they are, the council stated in a report issued last week.

"When Connecticut residents visit a beautiful state park or wildlife area they often are contented by the knowledge that the land is set aside for forests, wildlife and all people for all time,'' the report said. "Except usually it isn't."

The council analyzed several instances of developers seeking to acquire, exchange or repurpose state-owned preservation land. That analysis highlighted "weaknesses" in the protection of conservation land, the council stated.

"There is a common thread that runs through proposals to exchange or re-purpose state conservation lands: the land is characterized by proponents as surplus, unused or without special attributes that justify its continued status as state park, forest or wildlife management area,'' the report states. "Sometimes the land is characterized as being deficient by reason of having poor soils, steep slopes or some other perceived flaw. Decision makers might read those descriptions without benefit of actual information about the land's conservation value."

The council is calling for the legislature and all state agencies to adopt a more thorough and transparent process for the selling or swapping of public land.

"That process should include getting accurate information about the land in question,'' said Karl Wagener, executive director of the council. "We're recommending a more public and standardized process."

Wagener said he would like to see Connecticut enact constitutional limits on swaps and transfers, similar to those in New York state.

Meyer said he intends to propose legislation in the legislative session beginning next month that would place new restrictions on land deals. The bill, which has yet to be drafted, would require a public hearing and a waiting period before state park and conservation land could be conveyed to a developer.

"This bill will end the dark night transfers at the end of the session as we saw with the Haddam land swap and other state property transfers,'' said Meyer, D-Guilford.

Graham Stevens, director of constituent affairs and land management for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the department welcomes greater transparency.

"The property that we own is of great value to the citizens of Connecticut, and it provides a great habitat for the wildlife species in the state,'' Stevens said. "We commend [the council] for its efforts to support open-space protection in Connecticut."